Eritrea

Relics of past battles by the Red Sea

date of entry 28/02/1994

mileage 125,043

capital Asmara

area 121.100 km²

population 6.380.803

GDP 1.316 M. US-Dollar

official language Tigrinya/English/Arabic

Eritrea is marked by conflict with its large neighbour, Ethiopia, and its drive for independence. Time and again during the 1980s and 1990s, when the Holtorfs travelled through the country, war broke out between the two countries. Around 75 per cent of the population of this dry, infertile land work in agriculture. Even so, foodstuffs have to be imported, and there have also been many severe famines.